Orcs have existed in fantasy for as long as fantasy has been a genre, and they’ve been a big part of Warhammer since the earliest days – with Citadel Miniatures putting orcs into tabletop adventures even before the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
Today’s Warhammer greenskins are instantly recognisable: lantern-jawed brutes with huge protuberant tusks and a rowdy attitude, but they didn’t always look this way. In fact, there have been quite a few fantastic orc designs over the years – but this guy, the Orc Shaman with Bone Staff, is the model that did more than most to give orcs, orruks, and even Orks their signature modern look.
Named Nazgob, this hunchbacked malevolent magician marked a real break from the past. Previous orcs had still been green* – but far less mean. Legendary Citadel sculptor Brian Nelson was part of the team that changed all that, creating hulking green beasts with a uniquely slouched anatomy and vast, gaping gobs bristling with great ivory gnashers.
There’s something else different about Nazgob too; while he wasn’t the first orc wizard, he did come to redefine how the spell-slinging devotees of Mork and Gork would come to look.
Wielding the powerful Staff of Flaming Death – an arcane artefact carved from the bones of a mighty dragon – he first appeared in the classic Idol of Gork campaign pack for the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy battle, alongside the equally idiosyncratic Night Goblin Shaman Oddgit, and a troop of leering Orc Big ‘Uns. This led to a redesign of the whole greenskin range, bringing goblins and gretchin with pot bellies, and massive Orc Boar Boyz. Next came the Gorkamorka range, giving us models with such iconic designs that da boyz still look brutal 25 years on.
These days, Nazgob and his contemporaries inform almost every orruk in the Age of Sigmar. Even the huge, armoured Ironjawz share a morphology – albeit with a lot more muscle gained from not mucking around with all that magic. The more kunnin’ Kruleboyz meanwhile take from him their sartorial tips – all those hoods and rags are pure Nazgob…
* Way back in the mists of time, some early Warhammer orcs had black, brown and even red skin before the classic mean-and-green look was established!